To buy or not to buy??

Hmmm, does over full/high pressure trigger the light?

Or wonder if the sensor could be failing?

Karlos28 said:

Hmmm, does over full/high pressure trigger the light?

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There's no level sensor, just a low pressure switch. If the wrong grade of oil has been put in (too light) then that could cause low pressure issues at idle.

Karlos28 said:

Or wonder if the sensor could be failing?

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That's another possibility, although not very common.

I will change oil and see what happens, it seems to run nicely. The oil does look rather thin.. probably years old!

Is the engine "tappety" when idling when at a warm (slow) idle? There is a oil pressure relief valve - these are known to stick. Worth popping out, inspecting and cleaning up as necessary

rob_bell said:

Is the engine "tappety" when idling when at a warm (slow) idle? There is a oil pressure relief valve - these are known to stick. Worth popping out, inspecting and cleaning up as necessary

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Yes indeed. I'd forgotten about the relief valve sticking problem on them. Thankfully it's easy to remove and clean.

Ooooo now then, this sounds like it could be the solution! It is tappety, randomly too. I might start it when hot and it will be smooth and silent, as soon as I rev it and it drops back to idle, it's tapping again. Will have a Google and have a play.

I notice it's doing shocking mpg... 17... £90 has done just short of 300miles.. not sure that is sustainable as a daily! Could something be wrong or is that about normal? (I was expecting low-mid 20's)

Karlos28 said:

Ooooo now then, this sounds like it could be the solution! It is tappety, randomly too.

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It's something to check. I'd also check the timing belt for correct timing, as they'll cause running issues if it's out.

Karlos28 said:

I notice it's doing shocking mpg... 17... £90 has done just short of 300miles.. not sure that is sustainable as a daily! Could something be wrong or is that about normal? (I was expecting low-mid 20's)

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No. There's something wrong there. You should be getting high 20s to low 30s MPG. With some sensible mods, the 1.8 K can do over 35 MPG. So it sounds like you still have a problem somewhere. Are you sure that there are no air leaks into the inlet manifold? I've had a brake servo cause bad MPG, when the diaphragm split.

Can't find much info on the relief valve? Does anybody have any links to a DIY thread or anything?

I can't find anything, I have sprayed the lot with gt85 and I get no increase in rpm. I do occasionally get the odd wiff of fuel when I come to a stop, I was guessing that was related to the dropping idle issue?

35mpg would be absolutely superb, I'd be well chuffed with that, what sort of mods are required to achieve that (on a good running engine, mine clearly needs a bit of work!)

Brakes feel really good so I presume the servo vacuum is good?

Think I have found the relief valve, on the pump body? Will have a look and see if I can get to it later when I do the oil.

Oil changed, still quite tappy but didn't get to drive it enough to warm the oil up post change to see if the light still flickered.

Also did a crude OWUT, just put a bar on the nut and applied some pressure. It turned. Need to do a more scientific one to determine how stiff it is/isn't.

Karlos28 said:

Oil changed, still quite tappy but didn't get to drive it enough to warm the oil up post change to see if the light still flickered.

Also did a crude OWUT, just put a bar on the nut and applied some pressure. It turned. Need to do a more scientific one to determine how stiff it is/isn't.

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What oil did you use? I always used Shell Magnetec 10W40 in mine.

If you can turn the wheel relatively easily then it isn't terrible. On one of the cars I bought I could barely make the wheel turn at all before refurbing the VCU.
It might still need sorting but it's not urgent so long as your tyres are the same and pressures are right.

It was 10w40, can't remember the brand, was what ever stuff the local parts place dish out!

Yeah the rears and fronts are different, they all look pretty new except the rears I'd say look slightly newer, need to measure tread depth.

So far, the nice new oil has fixed the flickering light! Good result, fingers crossed it stays that way!

Well @Nodge68 I think you may be right about it learning it's new (correct) pipe situation, it is definitely idling better, still drops really low (500rpm) initially but picks back up quicker. I'm hoping this will get better as it learns more.

Oil light also still looking good after the commute today.

Oil still seems spot on, chuffed with that fix!

Now on the fuel consumption side, it's still pretty damn high. The idle issue has pretty much gone now, doesn't drop anywhere near as much as it used to. However I notice that when I come to a stop, there is a definite smell of petrol. Are there any common leak areas on these or is it likely to be caused by over fuelling? I think all fuel pipes look plastic/rubber so presumably can't be corroded fuel lines leaking?

TIA!

Karlos28 said:

Now on the fuel consumption side, it's still pretty damn high.

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Yes it's much too high.

Karlos28 said:

The idle issue has pretty much gone now, doesn't drop anywhere near as much as it used to.

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As the engine ECU learns the new running environment, it'll continue to calibrate it's self.

Karlos28 said:

However I notice that when I come to a stop, there is a definite smell of petrol. Are there any common leak areas on these or is it likely to be caused by over fuelling?

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If you can smell petrol, then it sounds like a leak. There's no specific areas to check, but look at all joints in the system, to ensure they're not leaking.
Next would be to put a diagnostic on it, so you can check the fuel trims from the O2 sensor.

Yeah I will fire it up and see if I can see anything obvious.

Hmmm, yeah I will have to try and find someone local with the landy computery stuff. Or will a generic code reader get them?

Had the air filter box and stuff off today, no signs of any leaks, did get the off whiff though.

I noticed the was a small pool of oil in the throttle body mouth..? And taking the oil cap of seems to allow a fair bit of air to blow out. Only thing that could pressurise oil with air would be leaking piston rings??



Still can't get driver's door window to work, no power to the door when the switch is operated. And nothing at the 25a fuse (8a? Under steering column)

Have you checked the ECU’s water temperature sensor? It’s separate from the gauge’s sensor. They go bad and causes the engine to run over rich, generally causing a fast hot idle and excess fuel consumption. Very easy to change and not too expensive

I haven't, how would I do such? The idle isn't high, but

rob_bell said:

Have you checked the ECU’s water temperature sensor? It’s separate from the gauge’s sensor. They go bad and causes the engine to run over rich, generally causing a fast hot idle and excess fuel consumption. Very easy to change and not too expensive

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i guess it could have learned to lower it?